Ubiquitous computing is a term describing the concept of integrating computation into the environment, rather than having computers which are distinct objects. Promoters of this idea hope that embedding computation into the environment would enable people to move around and interact with computers more naturally than they currently do.
The late Mark Weiser wrote what are considered some of the seminal papers in Ubiquitous Computing. Currently, the art is not as mature as Weiser hoped, but a considerable amount of development is taking place. Several graduate departments are taking interest in developing this field:
Some news sites are recording commercial and academic developments: